After Effects
by Coldman9
Summary: It's been two weeks since the end of the Winter War. Aizen is dead, but he took Isshine with him. Now Ichigo is in a deep depression that nothing seems to be able to snap him out of. But maybe something, or someone, can.


I know everyone probably wants a new chapter to Please Don't Go, but this is stuck in my head and I need to get it out.

Also, if you want to be in the mood for this then listen to Sideways and Secret, both by Citizen Cope.

I don't own Bleach, Kubo Tite does.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**After Effects**

Open the door.

Walk in.

Stop for a second before taking off his shoes and going further in.

Open the refrigerator and look for something to eat.

Close the door after not finding anything.

Go to his room.

Lay on his bed.

Everyday was alike for Ichigo. Everyday he'd just lie on his bed, staring up at the ceiling until he eventually fell asleep. Leaving the house was out of the ordinary, but it was needed at times. His eyes were dull, almost lifeless, and his attitude matched, not even his usual scowl would appear on his face. He just didn't see the point anymore.

But even now, two weeks after the end of the Winter War, Ichigo still couldn't get those last images out of his head. Aizen, having merged with the Hogyoku completely, and his father, the wear and tear of the fight showing but he was still ready to stand and fight again. In a second it was all over, Isshin's blade had not only pierced Aizen, but the Hogyoku too. But not before Aizen had an opening to take Isshin with him.

All his speed and all his power hadn't helped Ichigo as he rushed over, it hadn't stopped the incredible amount of bleeding, and it didn't stop him from looking desperately into his father's grinning face before he exhaled for the last time. Nothing had helped.

He didn't know what to say after everything was finished and he was left to go home, alone, and tell his sisters what had happened. With their eyes staring, so full and innocent, Ichigo told them the horrible news, they had lost another parent. Shock was apparent first on them, then a deep, bitter, sadness. No one had gone to school for the two weeks since. Yuzu had locked herself in her room, crying constantly. Karin, the only thing to say was that she had shut down. She'd moved out of her room and took up one of the clinic's, it wasn't in use since the small place no longer had a doctor.

Occasionally, if he was lucky, Ichigo could coax Yuzu into making something and get Karin to join them, and they'd have a silent family dinner. No one would say anything and Yuzu would cry silent tears as they ate their meal. Ichigo wanted to help them, to comfort them, but he didn't know what to do himself. He couldn't understand, with all the strength he'd gained, why his father had to die, and what to do now. Things just felt . . . pointless and empty.

Rukia and Renji were in Soul Society, explaining themselves and helping with the recovery from the Winter War. His friends knew something was up, especially since Uryu, Chad, and Orihime had returned to school. They'd stop by to try and talk to him, but he spent his days in his room, and ignored the doorbell and constant knocking. Tatsuki had been the most fervent, staying at his door for hours before yelling up a few swears at his window and leaving.

Although he hated the rain, Ichigo was a little glad it was cloudy recently, it seemed that even heaven would mourn with the Kurosaki's. He looked out of his window with the thought and noticed it was darker than usual, rain would be coming soon. And the memories of his mother came back in full force. He remembered the feeling of every rain drop, the yelling of his mother, the blackness, and then . . . the horror of discovering she was dead.

Ichigo shut his eyes tightly and turned over in his bed. Suddenly, he was suffocating. The room was too small, no, the _house_ was too small. He had to get out, and quick. He threw on a jacket and bolted down the stairs, slipped on his shoes and ran outside. But he didn't stop running, he just kept running through the dreary weather until he stopped, and found himself in the place where his father had been killed.

After Aizen was found to be actually dead, Soul Society had done what they needed and restored Karakura Town. The crushed buildings disappeared and were replaced with their complete, living world, counter parts. Ichigo remembered his father dying among rubble, but in reality it was a small clearing, a kind of park. He found it was actually a little comforting to know his father's grave site was such a place, a peaceful place.

He found his way to a bench and sat down, staring at the exact spot where he had held his father as he died. Despite the guilt, the sadness, the anger, and the depression, the tears he knew he owed his father just wouldn't come. So he sat, not thinking of anything, and stared.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Orihime couldn't believe how bad the weather had gotten all of a sudden. When she had walked into the grocery store to pick up what she needed for dinner that night it was cloudy but when she came out it was pouring down rain like a torrent. Luckily she had brought an umbrella just in case and was relatively safe from the onslaught. But as she walked back home she kept thinking to herself about Ichigo.

'_That's right, he hates the rain._' She thought to herself, '_Ever since his mother died. And now his father's dead too._' She looked up at the black sky, street lights had flickered on to provide light, '_I really wish I was the rain. He must be hurting so much. If I could connect with him and help him, maybe he'd be able to handle this better._'

In the middle of her thoughts she stopped and looked around, she'd wondered pretty far from the route to her home. She looked around in a slight panic before realizing where she was, her apartment was only a few blocks away. By the position of the street lights she could see that there was a small park to walk through as a shortcut. She quickly ducked into the park and started to walk quickly through when she caught sight of something.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she questioned when she walked over to find Ichigo sitting on a bench, just staring ahead, not registering the torrent beating down on him.

"Hmm? Inoue?" Ichigo question when she slightly wondered into his vision.

"Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing out so late? And without an umbrella for the rain?" Orihime asked as she stood over him, giving what cover she could to the soaked boy.

"Late?" Ichigo questioned and finally noticed how the streetlights were on.

"How long have you been out here?" Orihime was a little worried since he just went back to staring at some spot

"Dunno."

"What about your sisters?"

"Home."

"You're soaked you know." Orihime stood in front of Ichigo and leaned down to that they were eye level.

"Doesn't matter." Ichigo replied.

"Kurosaki-kun, you need to find someplace to dry off, otherwise you'll catch a cold." Orihime was concerned at how uncaring he seemed about anything, "M-My place isn't that far. You can come and dry off there." Suddenly she realized she had invited him to her house and her face turned slightly red.

"No thanks."

"Kuro- . . . Ichigo." She managed to catch his attention since he looked up at her, "Please." She pleaded slightly, desperate to get him out of the rain.

Ichigo was still for a second then nodded and stood up to follow her to her apartment. The walk was silent, and although she tried to get him to walk close so he'd be under the umbrella with her he stayed a distance away, letting the rain keeps beating down on him. It made her sad to see him like this, she remembered when she and Tatsuki had stayed at his front door for hours trying to get him to open up and let them in to talk. Ichigo never did, but Orihime had stayed even after Tatsuki threw some swears at Ichigo and left.

"Here we are." Orihime managed to say in a slightly cheery voice as she opened the door to her apartment and led him in.

She quickly put her bag on the table and turned around to see Ichigo walk in quietly and just stand still, looking at the floor. When she turned on the lights she finally got a good look at him. There was no expression on his face and his eyes were dull, empty. He looked like he was a lost little boy, and a little broken too. Even his usually bright hair seemed dull and less vibrant.

Managing to break from her trance she ran off and came back a few minutes later with a set of clothes for him. He walked to bathroom and changed, Orihime threw the wet clothes he offered in her dryer and the two sat down in the living room, silence hanging over them again. She had brought tea for the both of them but he only watched his.

"T-They're Sora's." Orihime tried to break the silence, "They're Sora's old clothes. I'm glad they fit you alright."

"Sorry." Ichigo replied, "These are probably important to you and you're just wasting them on me."

"No, no, it's really good." Orihime waved her hands and put on a smile to try and brighten the mood, "I you hadn't worn them I think the little blue men and the little green men would have started a war to claim them for their own so they can create the parachutes they need for their ships."

Nothing registered on the boys face. Time to try something else.

"Oh, by the way, I invited Tatsuki over a little while ago so she'll probably be here any second."

Strike one.

"She said she wanted to show me this brutal new move she learned. Apparently it will make anyone she uses it on go blind. And she's been really angry with you recently."

Strike two.

"You should have seen Ishida-san the other day at school. He decided he wants to start modeling the clothes he makes so he came in wearing a cute little dress."

Strike three, time for desperate measures.

"Oh no, help Kurosaki-kun!" she jumped up to draw his attention, "The little blue men took my shirt, I've got nothing on!"

Out! Orihime sat back down in defeat; Ichigo's eyes never left his cooling cup of tea. She just didn't know what to do, what to say. She never knew her father, but from Sora had said when he was a Hollow, she had been lucky to not have him around. She had never met Ichigo's father so she didn't know what he was like, although Ichigo always said he was annoying, but he must have been a good and caring father none-the-less. But she felt so bad with him there and not able to do anything to comfort him, even though she wasn't with him it still made her heart sink. Then suddenly, a thought popped into her head.

"I remember when Sora died." She said and out of the corner of her eye she was sure she saw Ichigo move just a little bit, "I was sad for days after that, I just couldn't stop crying. When I finally managed to stop crying I was still too sad to do much, I felt like a giant piece of my heart was gone and nothing could possibly fill it in." She looked over and found Ichigo looking at her, he was still expressionless but at least she had his attention, "I also had no idea how I could go on. Nothing seemed right without Sora here. So I started praying everyday, hoping that one day I'd wake up and what happened would only just be a very bad, very long dream."

Orihime took this opportunity to move closer to Ichigo and gave him a sad smile.

"I know it's not the same compared to what you're going through. Sora may have thought of me as a daughter but I always thought of him as a brother. But there were times where he was more like a father than anything and he was the only family I had. But I can understand a little of how you feel." She stood up, glad to see that Ichigo was following her. She walked in front of him and, with another sad smile, wrapped him in a hug, "Even if I'm not making any sense Ichigo, I want you to know that I'm here for you. I'll listen if you need to talk or anything else. I'll help you figure out what you need to do next. I want to help you, because you've already done so much for me. You just lost a part of your family so anything you feel or want to do is natural, all right?"

Ichigo didn't know what was happening. While he had heard everything Orihime had said to him, nothing had really registered in his brain. But after she hugged him and spoke those last few sentences to him, it finally hit him, along with everything else. A giant train wreck of words, emotions, and actions hit him all at once and jumbled themselves inside him, but one came out before all others, and in that embrace his face scrunched up and a sob escaped him, followed by another and then another as his eyes filled with tears that poured out. The tears he owed his father, the tears he wanted to let out so badly.

"Why couldn't I do anything?" Ichigo grabbed Orihime in a hug and cried into her shoulder, "Why couldn't I save him? He was right there."

"That's good." Orihime moved her hands to start rubbing his back and his head, "Just let it out."

After a long time of crying from Ichigo and soothing words from Orihime he was lying on the couch, her and once end and his head on her lap with his eyes closed, dried tears were evident on his face and Orihime was running her fingers through his hair to keep him calm. The train wreck in Ichigo was partially sorted out by the time he was done crying and little by little he was putting everything where it needed to be and, he had to be honest, Orihime being there was a big help.

The buzzer for the dryer rang loud throughout the apartment. Ichigo opened his eyes and looked at Orihime, scared that she'd get up and he'd have to leave, but she made no move to leave, and she was smiling down at him. He felt peaceful here, he never wanted to leave. But he forced himself up; he knew he should change back into his own clothes.

After changing he walked back into the living and saw that Orihime hadn't moved since he left. He didn't really know what he should do, but he knew he wanted to stay.

"I-Inoue." Ichigo said looking around nervously, "C-Could I . . . stay here . . . for a little longer?"

"Of course." He was relived to hear her reply and sat back down on the couch. He wanted her close again but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but before he could say anything she had pulled him down and put his head on her lap and started rubbing his head again.

He closed his eyes and started to sort through his train wreck again, but he didn't get far before he started thinking about Orihime. Her words from before started playing through his head and he had to disagree with what she said, she did know what he was going through, that's why she was the only one who'd managed to reach him now. And when he thought about it some more, he was really glad she could understand him now. And the more he kept thinking about it, the more he only wanted it to be Orihime right there with him, and that confused him a little. Along with the things he started noticing when he thought back through all the memories he had of her.

The way she smiled, her laugh, her cheerful attitude, her imagination, her crazy concoctions for lunch, and the cute way she looked when she was thinking hard.

'_Cute?_' questioned himself, he didn't understand that thought. Suddenly his nose was invaded with some sort of fruity scent. He realized that she had shifted to a more comfortable position and while she did, some of her hair fell onto his face. He opened his eyes to see her still looking down at him, blushing a little about what had happened, '_Not cute,_' Ichigo thought as he reached up and brushed the hair behind her ear, '_beautiful._'

Gently, he reached behind her head and started pulling her down as he rose up. He brought her lips to his and closed his eyes, taking in the moment with everything. The fruity scent invaded his nose again along with the tingling sensation of electricity, and he couldn't help but focus on how soft her lips were as he continued to kiss her. As they continued he brought himself up to a sitting position and wrapped his arms around her, and she didn't the same. But before long his mind snapped back to its senses and he quickly broke away and stood up.

"Inoue! I . . . I didn't . . . S-sorry . . . I shouldn't have-"he tried to form a sentence out of his guilt. She had helped him in his depression and here he was taking advantage of that. She was looking at him with confusion in her face, making him feel even more guilty, "I so sorry." He apologized before rushing out of the apartment and into the light rain outside.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Onii-chan, you're going to be late for school!" Yuzu called out as she finished setting the breakfast dishes in the sink.

"You will too if you do those dishes." Ichigo said as he reached the bottom of the stairs, his school uniform on. He then walked over and dragged Yuzu out of the kitchen and to the front door where they both slipped their shoes on and headed outside to a waiting Karin, "The dishes can wait until you get back later." Ichigo said as Yuzu looked back at the house he was locking.

After a brief goodbye they headed in their separate directions.

It had been a week since Ichigo's run in with Orihime. Despite the fact he was feeling incredibly guilty for what he did she had managed to snap him out of his depression, and he had an inkling of what to do. He had let the girls sleep that night but the next day he had forced both of them to a breakfast he had made and he made them talk things out. They had all stayed at the kitchen table that day but they all came to realization that none of them could afford to spend any more time being depressed because of their father. Ichigo and Karin had gotten Yuzu to act like her old self a bit, after letting her cry while they hugged her. Karin just needed to vent out her frustrations and she was relatively back to old self.

They had all come to realize that they needed to help each other during this tough time, so they did. And the day before Yuzu had said they should start going back to school. Ichigo had been pretty hesitant but realized he need to meet Orihime, he hadn't really been able to stop thinking about her since he had kissed her.

Luckily he didn't run into anybody on his way to school, he needed the time to think about what he was going to say and prepare himself. Apparently there had been quite a few rumors since he kept getting looks as he walked through the halls of the school. Eventually he came to his homeroom and walked in. The room grew quiet as soon as he walked in, all eyes on him.

He looked through the room and saw Orihime talking with a small group of girls, including Tatsuki with Chizuru under her foot on the ground. As soon as he looked at her she turned a bright red and looked down at the ground. He walked over and stood in front of her.

"Everybody out." He growled and threw his best glare at the whole room, "I need to talk to Inoue." He said to Tatsuki as the room started to empty out.

The blue haired girl looked at him for a few seconds before she grabbed Chizuru in a headlock and dragged her outside. As soon as the doors were closed he turned his attention back to Orihime. The girl was still blushing and still looking at the ground.

"Inoue." The sound of his voice brought her eyes up to him, "First of all, thank you for what you did and said. Regardless of what you think you really did understand what I was going through, and it helped. I probably wouldn't be in school now if we hadn't met." He gave her a small smile that made her smile back, "But, I also need to apologize for what I did." His smile was replaced by a look of guilt, "It was wrong of me to take advantage of you like that. So I'm sorry."

"It's okay Kurosaki-kun, I understand." Orihime smiled up at him

"Yeah, but there's something else." He looked past her and started rubbing the back of his head, "I . . . haven't been able to stop thinking about you since then." He didn't know how but she turned an even deeper shade of red, "And . . . I just . . . I . . . really I . . ." Ichigo turned red himself as he tried to put together the words he wanted to come out of his mouth, "Aw screw it." he said suddenly and pulled Orihime into a kiss.

Instead of pushing him away like he thought she would, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned into it. He leaned back after a few second and looked at her, she was smiling at him.

"I like you too Kurosaki-kun." She said quietly.

"That's Ichigo to you now." He smiled at her, still holding her close.

"Really?" a curious look came to Orihime's face, "I like Ichi-kun better."

Ichigo let out a small laugh, "Call me whatever you like, Hime." And pulled her into another kiss.

"-the heck is everyone doing out here? Class is about to start." Ochi-sensei walked in to the classroom and was slightly surprised at the sight before her. After a moment of surprise she threw an eraser and a piece of chalk at the two, the eraser hit Ichigo and chalk hit Orihime, snapping the two out of their kiss, "Kurosaki, it's good to see you back in school and it's good to see you have a girlfriend, that means I win the bet among us staff members." She walked behind the podium and pulled out her lesson book, "But the molestation will have to wait until after school, or at least until after I'm done with my lesson."

It was at that moment that Ichigo and Orihime realized that both doorways into the class were filled with gawking students, some even texting friends and taking pictures.

The couple just looked at each other and shared a quick kiss before parting and going to their seats.

**End**


End file.
